Aspirin to beat breast cancer

Women who take two over-the-counter painkillers a week can halve their risk of breast cancer, say doctors.

Scientists who conducted a study of more than 80,000 females were 'amazed' by the potent anti-cancer properties of ibuprofen, aspirin and similar drugs.

In particular, those taking two or more ibuprofen tablets a week reduced their chances of developing the disease by 50 per cent.

Experts say the evidence is 'so compelling' that they are urging all women over 40 to start taking daily standard doses of the painkillers.

They believe the drugs could become important new weapons in the fight against breast cancer, now the most common form of the disease in Britain.

It affects around one in 10 women in the UK in their lifetime, with an estimated 39,500 new cases and 13,000 deaths every year.

The latest findings suggest that women taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin or ibuprofen could cut their lifetime risk of breast cancer to one in 20.

'Evidence clearly suggests a woman can reduce her chance of developing breast cancer by a regular intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen,' said Dr Randall Harris, who led the study at Ohio State University.

He added: 'Women over 40 might consider taking a standard dose of one of these compounds on a daily basis.

'If they do, they should advise their doctor because there is a low risk of side-effects.'

Scientists used data from a nationwide U.S. study involving 80,741 post-menopausal women aged between 50 and 79 with no reported history of cancer.

Each woman was interviewed to assess her individual risk of developing breast cancer and her use of aspirin and ibuprofen.

Of those enrolled, 1,392 were diagnosed with the cancer over the next four years.

The study found that women taking two or more standard doses of NSAIDs per week for five to nine years reduced their risk by 21 per cent.

Extending the use to ten or more years resulted in a risk reduction of 28 per cent.

Researchers found that ibuprofen was more effective than aspirin in preventing breast cancer, reducing the risk by 49 per cent compared with 21 per cent. Regular use of low-dose aspirin had no effect.

The anti-cancer effects of the drugs held true even when other factors that affect breast cancer risk, such as age, family history, weight and exercise, were taken into account.

'These results suggest that even women at high risk of breast cancer may be protected by taking NSAIDs,' said Dr Harris, whose findings are published today in the Proceedings from the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Most of the women were taking the painkilling medication for arthritis, muscle pain, or headaches. 'The main purpose of our study was to compare the incidence of breast cancer in women who took drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin with those who did not,' he added.

'Our results showed a significant reduction of breast cancer among women who took NSAID drugs. There was a trend of declining risk with increasing duration of use.

'The striking result was that long- term ibuprofen users reduced their risk of breast cancer by about 50 per cent.

'The evidence is compelling. Relatively harmless and inexpensive compounds already used by millions reduce the risk of breast cancer.'

Dr Harris said aspirin and ibuprofen work as painkillers by reducing inflammation. This same process blocks several key steps in the development of cancer. Between five and eight million people in Britain take prescribed NSAID painkillers, including ibuprofen.

Up to two million take overthe- counter drugs such as aspirin or Nurofen.

However, Dr Richard Sullivan, of Cancer Research UK, warned: 'Aspirin and ibuprofen do have adverse reactions - in particular gastro-intestinal bleeding which in some cases can be fatal.

'They can also trigger asthma attacks. This is very interesting data, but the message from us would be caution.

'The reality is that we need to know how many women we could really prevent getting breast cancer and how many would suffer serious or fatal side- effects from taking these drugs.'